Baal Aadhaar

Why in news?

• Over 7.9 million children aged up to five were enrolled under the Unique Identification Authority’s Baal Aadhaar initiative from April to July.

What is Baal Aadhar?

• Baal Aadhaar is a blue-coloured variant of the Aadhaar Card.
• It is issued for children below the age of 5 years.

How is Baal Aadhaar different from Aadhar Card?

• Biometrics to establish uniqueness for the Baal Aadhar is not collected unlike in the case of Aadhaar. A facial image of a child is instead taken for enrolment.
• Moreover, biometric authentication of the parent/guardian and a proof of relationship document, preferably a birth certificate, are collected at the time of enrolment.

What happens to the Baal Aadhaar after the children turn five?

• On attaining the age of five, the child is required to furnish his or her biometrics at an Aadhaar Seva Kendra to complete a process called mandatory biometric update (MBU).
• The MBU process goes through a de-duplication process. After completion of this process, the child is issued a normal Aadhaar without any change in the Aadhaar number.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Consider the following statements regarding ‘Bal Aadhar ’:

1. It is issued for children below the age of 18 years.

2. Biometric details including IRIS and Fingerprints are collected for enrolment.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

                        D

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